After the Niners rallied for a 25-19 victory over previously unbeaten Detroit, a wild-eyed Harbaugh began an emotional victory dance, untucking his black sweatshirt, attempting a chest bump with offensive tackle Alex Boone, thrusting both fists in the air and whooping while greeting Schwartz near midfield with an aggressive handshake that was followed with a rap on Schwartz’s back.

Harbaugh, who barely looked at Schwartz during the brief meeting, began jogging away. An irate Schwartz ran after Harbaugh and bumped into him from the side. Schwartz had to be restrained by a group that included 49ers spokesman Bob Lange and offensive tackle Anthony Davis as several players from both teams began pushing each other near the locker-room tunnel.

So what, exactly, was Harbaugh’s deal? The head coach conceded he might have gotten a little carried away in the aftermath of an emotional victory.

“I was just really revved up, and it’s totally on me,” Harbaugh said. “I shook his hand too hard. I mean, I really went in and it was a strong kind of a slap, grab handshake. It was kind of like the same as I’ve been doing with (some 49ers players). So, that was on me.”

After the skirmish ended and Schwartz, presumably, had cooled, the two coaches saw each other in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. Did Harbaugh take that moment to make amends?

Harbaugh’s words apparently had little effect on Schwartz, who seemed to interpret Harbaugh’s back slap as a shove. Schwartz was also put off by a choice word he said Harbaugh used during their greeting.

“I went to congratulate coach Harbaugh and got shoved out of the way,” Schwartz said. “I didn’t expect an obscenity at that point, so it was a surprise to me at the end of the game.”

The testy meeting evoked memories of Harbaugh’s dismissive exchange with Cal’s Jeff Tedford after the Bears won the 2009 Big Game at Stanford and Harbaugh’s incident with then-USC head coach Pete Carroll after Stanford smacked the Trojans 55-21 in 2009. Harbaugh had gone for a two-point conversion late in the game.

Carroll famously asked Harbaugh, “What’s your deal?”

On Sunday, Schwartz, in effect, had the same question in regard to what he perceived to be the coach’s lack of decorum.

“Obviously, you win a game like that, you’re excited,” Schwartz said. “… but I think there’s a protocol that goes with this league.”

Harbaugh, who was asked at least five questions about the postgame incident, was generally all smiles while being queried. Was he agitated that Schwartz chased him? Harbaugh grinned, “I was not agitated, believe me. Not agitated; very happy, very happy with the win. It’s a great thrill of winning, great feeling of victory.”

He did grow testy when asked if his emotion could be a detriment.

“I am very emotional about the outcome, the way our players played,” he said. “Hopefully, you can understand that. We were working with a group of guys, you’re on a team; you’re trying to do something special.

“To see your guys go out and perform that way, yeah, you do get emotional. It fires me up; it fires me up a lot. … I’m not going to apologize for that. If that offends you or anyone else, so be it.”

With that, Harbaugh walked away from the podium without fielding another question, apparently still feeling really enthused.